Tips for Writing a Great Entry

Entries for The UK National Contact Centre Awards are now open. Taking place on the 14th May 2019 at The Brewery, London, it promises to be an evening of celebration you won’t want to miss.

If you want to apply but are feeling stumped by a blank entry form, here are some top tips on how to convey the amazing achievements of your team over the past year.

1. You can enter in minutes – but you’ll want to get input from othersThere are only 2 written questions to answer for each category this year, but you will still want to leave enough time to get input from around the business.

2. Involve your teamAfter all, they know what they’ve acheived as well as anyone else

3. Give proof – Evidence, evidence, evidenceKeep statements factual, as this will help with the credibility of your entry. For example, instead of saying: “We have an excellent training programme, say: ‘our new training programme has contributed to our customer satisfaction increasing by 20% since the programme began.” Statistics are important, but remember that customer service is about people – so try to mention your teams as often as possible and what they think about the initiatives or individuals your entry focuses on.

4. Link it back to the customerThey’re at the heart of everything we all do

5. Be personable and avoid acronyms.Approach your entry in the same way you approach customer service and remember we dont know your business or the acronyms you use.

6. Think carefully about which category you want to enterDon’t just go for the one you like the sound of. Think about what your main achievements have been and play to your strengths by entering the most relevant category. Also, bear in mind that you will need hard, quantifiable results to really wow the judges, so if you can’t find these, then it could be that you’re entering the wrong category.

7. Be focusedThe temptation is to tell the judges about everything you’ve done that is fantastic, but you will usually end up with a confused entry that doesn’t stick to the criteria. Tell the judges about your best and most valuable achievements in a clear, consistent way. It’s a bit more difficult as you’re answering questions, but if you can, try and tell a story in your entry. For example, the reason for the initiative is the beginning, the middle is how you implemented it and the ending is the results you have gained.

8. Don’t forget the customer!It’s essential that you make it clear to the judges the effect the individual or initiative has had on customers – including customer testimonials is incredibly powerful – but just choose the best two or three, don’t overload the judges.

9. Presentation, spelling and grammarIt sounds obvious, but it’s difficult to overstate how important this is. I have seen judges who want to disqualify entries simply because they have lots of spelling mistakes or are not clear in their presentation. Make sure you have built time into your entry process to get it proofed by at least two different people. Try reading the answers to the questions in your entry aloud to a friend or relative – if it makes sense to them, it will definitely make sense when read on paper.

10. Supporting materialDon’t overload judges with this and make sure that it is used to back up your entry. For example if you have talked about your team building events, supply photos of these, but not too many. If you’ve talked about your people, attaching photos of them will help give you entry personality and the judges are more likely to buy into your company.

Past winners ...

Sponsors

What people say ...

Myself and the team had an outstanding evening and the icing on the cake was winning silver in our first ever submission. Could not be prouder as are the wider teams at home

HSBC

Thanks – a fantastic night had by all – it is by far the most exciting & genuinely the most happy awards evenings I have been to. (and that’s quite a few)!

NHS Professionals

The night was amazing. Very well organised and the food was great!

HMRC

First, I wanted to thank you for organising what was a superb night, the team were in awe of the venue, the food & the vibe.

Molson Coors

It was an absolute privilege to be nominated and to attend the awards, to actually win was a truly, truly great experience

SAGE

Register your interest

Pop your email in the box below and we'll let you know when we open for 2020 nominations.

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

Sponsorship Opportunities

The UK National Contact Centre awards, in their 24th Year in 2019, are the longest established contact centre awards in the UK.

To find out more about the benefits of sponsoring this prestigious industry event, contact Jackie Pringle on jackie@ccma.org.uk.